[2] Nick tells of how he remembers a continual procession through the Harper household of his father's famous friends, including not only 'folk/acoustic' artists such as Davy Graham, Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Jackson C. Frank, Sandy Denny and Paul Simon but also rock musicians such as Keith Moon, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, David Gilmour and others.

He made his recording debut on his father's 1985 Whatever Happened to Jugula?,[2] and subsequently toured with him for a few years before beginning a musical career of his own.

His 2005 album Treasure Island was a change of direction, seeing both a concerted shift to more overtly political themes (songs such as "Knuckledraggers", "Sleeper Cell" and "Intelligent Design" – spliced together from audio clips of George W. Bush's speeches on the War on Terror – were all highly critical of the Bush regime) and to more historical perspectives.

According to Harper,"The album's title track is inspired by an obscure Liverpudlian philanthropist, Joseph Williamson, who employed destitute men returning from the Napoleonic Wars, to dig tunnels for no other reason than to give them something to do.

The album was released the following month and features his then 13-year-old daughter taking a guest vocal slot on one of the songs, "Silly Daddy".

The project was supported by Wiltshire Creative, based at Salisbury Playhouse and Harper toured a one man spoken word show with added music and effects in surround sound across the West country in 2018.

Harper related tales and anecdotes of the folk luminaries who would drop by and jam with his father at the address where he spent the first 5 years of his life.

In 2008 he performed at Trowbridge Village Pump Festival, Beautiful Days, Newquay's Rip Curl Beach Sessions and Tenby Folk Festival and appeared at London's Royal Albert Hall on 27 September 2008, where he brought his 12-year-old daughter Lily on stage at the end of the set to accompany him on Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's "Our House".

During the summer of that year he performed in Norway, France and Italy before a series of dates on America's East Coast in September, returning to the US in November for a coast-to-coast tour with Cy Curnin of The Fixx.

In October 2007, he joined a 38-strong team of musicians including Glenn Tilbrook, Mike Peters and Cy Curnin, along with mountaineers and cancer survivors, who, again in aid of the Love Hope Strength Foundation.

This Everest Rocks trek culminated with a grand finale concert in Kathmandu on 29 October and raised more than US$250,000 for the only charitable cancer hospital in Nepal, situated at Bhaktapur (approx.

Alex Coletti (producer of MTV's Unplugged series) filmed the trek for a documentary, Everest Rocks, which premiered on the Palladia channel on 7 September 2008 and was also released on DVD.

Headliners at the concerts included Newton Faulkner, Mike Peters of The Alarm, Cy Curnin and Jamie West-Oram of The Fixx, Levellers, Gabby Young and Other Animals, The Correspondents and Harper himself.

[8] Harper uses tuning pegs as an integral part of his playing style, turning them mid-song to intentionally cause a pitch bend.

(4 stars) and The Sun stated that "like his dad, he's a fine folk troubadour and a great guitarist... this is a witty, vibrant affair... a rewarding listen."

Some of the major musical influences on him include his father Roy Harper, Killing Joke, Public Enemy, Stephen Stills, Gang of Four, Frank Zappa, Eric Idle of Monty Python, Django Reinhardt, Jeff Buckley and Led Zeppelin.